


An Abundance Of Daffodills

by TheAvocadoList



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Craft bros, F/M, First time writing on AO3 so please bear with me, Fluff, I really don't know how to tag, M/M, Post-War, Yes it's dad runaan, simply fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2020-01-12 16:11:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18450062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAvocadoList/pseuds/TheAvocadoList
Summary: Callum looked extremely anxious. Can't blame him, Rayla thought drily. He was about to meet the elf that murdered his stepfather, was held prisoner by the royal guards and didn't have extremely pleasant experiences with the high mage.





	An Abundance Of Daffodills

They ran through the cobbled streets, Callum panting and lagging behind, while Rayla sprinted at full speed, her eyes locked on her target: a modest yet beautiful cottage at the end of the street. The sun overhead blazed with heat, slowing down the two children, not knowing they had a very important mission: Callum has to meet Runaan and tinker and, judging by the way they were dashing down the stone-paved pathways, were several minutes late. Runaan wasn't going to be pleased. He was an elf of practicality and subtlety, and his guest being a human wasn't going to improve his chances of being accepted by the stern, discipline-driven Moonshadow elf. It seemed that returning the heir to an enemy kingdom, who would soon grow up to be the most powerful creature to roam the continent of Xadia, by none other than the eldest son (basically step-son, but that wasn't important) of the monarch of a country that had held grudges worth centuries of history had left the Moonshadow elf highly intrigued. They stopped at the front door, Callum cowering behind Rayla, as she reached to knock. Rayla stopped mid-way, noticing the expression on her comrade's face. 

‘Wha’s wrong?  
'Nothing! I-er... are you sure it's alright? y' know, me meeting them? late?' he appeared extremely anxious. Can't blame him, Rayla thought drily. He was about to meet the elf that murdered his stepfather, was held prisoner by the royal guards and didn't have extremely pleasant experiences with the high mage. Unless of course you count having your soul sucked into a penny delightful.  
Rayla rolled her eyes.‘Relax. The worst he can do is sneer at ya’, and he does that to everyone.’ she softened her tone – ‘look, everything is goin' to be just fi-'  
The front door swung open, cutting Rayla off. The elf standing near the frame looked stone-faced and sinister. His cold façade seemed to melt (somewhat, if not entirely) when he saw Rayla. When he regarded them, however, his voice seemed cool and expressionless, like how one might expect a highly experienced guard to speak.

‘You’re late’  
‘Ah, yes. Sorry, Runaan. It was a wee bit busy down the main streets. Some idiot started a riot on the degrading quality of sunforged weapons in the market. As if he's ever held a dagger before.' She scoffed.

 

‘Come in. Let’s not keep our guest waiting now, shall we?’ Said a voice from inside. It revealed to be an elf, not as tall as Runaan was, but stocky and rather short, and was currently busy dusting off the frames that hung from the wall, almost all of them featuring a young Rayla up to no good. He had the poise of an inventor, with his untamable mane of burnt copper and that odd gleam in his eyes.

 

‘Before that, Rayla, I need your help. Alone.' He looked at Callum, his face impassive. ‘Excuse me, I have urgent business with her. Sorry for the disturbance.'  
‘Oh no, I- er… it's fine' Callum stuttered, looking unsure. He cast a quizzical glance to Rayla, who merely shrugged in response.

'Don't worry, I'll tend to him.' Said tinker, grinning heartily at Callum. He returned it, trying his best not to make it look too forced and then heaved a sigh of relief. Tinker seemed much easier to talk to than Runaan.

'So, you must be Callum. Nice to officially meet you. I'm Tinker, by the way. Rayla's uncle.'

'Nice t-to meet you too.'

Tinker gestured towards the couch. They sat down, with uneasy silence hanging in the air.

'How is the kingdom holding up? your brother doing all right?

'Ezran's doing fine. He's doing great, actually.'

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Tinker seemed very interested in his nails. He then made another brave attempt at conversation.

'So... you're a sky mage huh?'

'How did you know?'

'Rayla loves talking about you. We can't get her to shut up sometimes. I wonder why.' He didn't say anything specific, but the tone he used and the smirk on his face implied something that made Callum's cheeks go red.

'No, Rayla and I-we aren't you know...' He trailed off, trying to hide the flush creeping up his face and failing miserably.

'Yeah, right. Kid, listen, I've known Rayla ever since she was a tiny elfling and the way she talks about you, she doesn't do that to anyone else. She really likes you for some reason, and part of that's why we wanted to see you. To give you a chance. Because Rayla's like her uncle. She doesn't fall easily, but when she does, she falls hard. I don't know what, but there's something about you that makes her... complete.' He smiled at him warmly. Callum returned it weakly. Truth be told, he didn't know he felt about Rayla. Somehow, she was always there for him, and he tried to make sure he was too. They made a great team, because hey, babysitting the long lost son of the most powerful creature in existence wasn't all fun and games. How he felt about Rayla couldn't be compared to how he felt about anyone else because Rayla was... well, Rayla. Fast, strong, brave (and daring. Oh so daring). He's never felt about her like he did to anyone else, not even Claudia. The reason why he didn't work out his feelings for her was that he didn't quite understand them yet.  
A loud clang from somewhere around the house cut off his train of thought. He was surprised to see Tinker get up from the couch with a scowl on his face, muttering something incomprehensible.

'Let me show you my garage.'

 

Rayla was walking alongside Runaan, passing by small cottages and groups of children playing under the midday sun. Runaan was pacing down the streets, and after the long run she had, she was finding it hard to keep up to his speed.

'Where are we goin'?

'To the market.'

 

'Bu' why?'

Runaan stopped pacing. He sported a troubled look on his face.  
'You do realize today is our anniversary, and I still haven't bought him anything, don't you?'

'You forgo'!how?'

'I was very busy at work! now I'm not an assassin anymore, it is quite hard to readjust to less challenging fields!'

'Wha'? Some bread needed slayin'?' Rayla asked, with a smirk on her lips

Ever since the war ended, humans and elves alike found it difficult to adjust to their regular lifestyles once more. Sure, the battalion had held campfire rituals every now and then, but many like Runaan had no other choice than to find another field to work at, which in Runaan's case was:-  
Baking

Don't ask her what he was thinking. Runaan could've barely held a spatula when the declaration of peace was proclaimed, you should've seen Tinker's face when Runaan marched haughtily into the house, claiming that he got a job at the local bakery. The kind little man who owned the shop had exhibited much patience with Runaan's skill, reassuring him that he'll get better with time, yet Tinker and Rayla both know that it is only a matter of time before they pay for all the ovens Runaan blow up daily.

'I wish you'd be more patient with me. The banana loaf I made yesterday wasn't half bad!'

'Yeah other than the fact tha' it smelled like burnt charcoal and looked like a piece from the Moonstone path it was completely fine.' She chuckled darkly. 'Anyway, what are we going to get Tinker'

'Flowers' came the short reply. He certainly didn't enjoy being laughed at. Rayla huffed and rolled her eyes, tailing behind Runaan, until they reached the market.

 

Tinker's garage was one of the most cluttered places Callum has ever set his eyes on. Assortments of nuts and screws littered the floor, complete with sawdust. The smell of oil lingered in the air. Metal scrapes and pipes on every surface as far as the eye can see. Callum thought it was perfect.  
Tinker was examining a rather strange device that reminded him of an oven. He tapped it a few times, groaned loudly and sat on a chair, huffing.

'It won't work! This is the third time I rebuilt this darn thing!'

'What is it?'

'It' a special oven I built for Runaan. It's our anniversary today.' He answered Callum's questioning gaze. 'He loves baking. Wouldn't matter much if he were good at it' he chuckled lightly. Callum didn't know whether to take him seriously or not. As far as he knew, Runaan didn't set the image of the baking, joking, carefree kind.

'Now I'm stuck. I have no idea what to get him.' He sighed and got up. He looked utterly defeated.' Might as well clean up the place.'

'How about some kind of a memorial?' Callum offered.

'What?'

'You know, something like... a-a picture! or a drawing!'

'You mean something purely decorative?'

'Yeah! maybe I can help!'

'Hmm...' Tinker and Callum looked around the garage for ideas. Their eyes fell on a picture of Runaan carrying a 5- year old Rayla. Then they both turned to face each other, grinning identically, with a mischevious glint in their eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah... Rayllum is still in the process of development. I know that is slightly putting out, but the whole plot of this fic revolves around Callum and Rayla trying to work their feelings for each other (and Callum and Tinker getting into shenanigans, of course)  
>  I 'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can
> 
> Runaan in a bakery. Can you believe-


End file.
